Paris recap

I never did a proper Paris recap. If you’re not particularly interested in a travelogue,  I’ll try and pepper enough new perfume details as I go through to make it worth your while.

We very much were tourists for the first week, doing almost no shopping. We did finally get in the cemetery after going out there like three days in a row. I know that Metro route like I know my own nose now.  Peaceful, melancholy, it is the resting place of our love and lives.  As I stood there, a raven would fly by and caw, and it was so Poe’ish, but without the beating heart or the guilt -a nightmare sanitized of its fear.  Can you tell how much I like cemeteries?  I wish I knew why, it seems a little ghoulish, but it has alway been a place of comfort and happiness to me – maybe it’s just seeing so many people that journeyed through life and are at rest reminds me that pain will never last forever and life is too short to not blast through it with joy.

The picture above is one I took while we were there.  I took a picture of Jim Morrison’s grave too and was vaguely disappointed that nobody was screwing or taking drugs on it, which is what I’ve been led to believe happens with regularity.

One of my favorite places was the Musee d’Orsay.  Now, as a big art museum, it might be considered a little light, but as a beautiful place to eat lunch – pay the price of admission, head one floor up and just brace yourself for light and joy while you dine on some mighty tasty eats.   The whole museum is airy and beautiful and not tooo much to see in a couple of hours.  The Louvre takes days, and I still haven’t carved out sufficient time to get in there – next trip.

We walked and walked and walked and rode trains forever, and that is truly my favorite part of Paris.  It was in the 30s and chilly, but you just bundle up as fashionably as you can (except my footwear… listen, my feet have to be warm when it’s cold out or I’m a horrific bitch to be around) and enjoy.

Oh, perfumes?  Let’s see, snifed the new Armanis briefly, not enough to form an impression.  Tried the new Olivia Giocobettis, which I’ll post on later.  Loved two of them, couldn’t smell another, one – or was it two? – bored me.  Went to Arabian Oud, and they discontinue stuff too often, which is irritating, but they had some amazing new things, which makes up for my irritation. There was one that was a his and hers set of scents, and the woman’s scent went on Shirley’s neck, which we all happily snuffled off on the rest of the day.  We even got to see the same lovely man that we met the first time, Mahmoud (sp?).  He tells great jokes and has the heart of hospitality built into every fiber of his being.  Harry was really miffed about skipping the perfume shopping that day as Mahmoud could have totally hooked him up with a hookah bar and some  of whatever kind of tobacco that goes in that.  He groaned and whined and carried on like I’d stolen his “The Office” DVDs. 

Sephora on the Champs seems to have cut back a lot on their perfume, but I do need to figure out how to get that lovely woman who did my makeup in there to come and do it every morning. She turned me beautiful in about 10 minutes with a little bit of Chanel foundation, undereye concealer and lipstick.  I went in a little worn out from a long day and walked out to Shirley and Diane asking me what in the hell I had done to flip that around so quick.

Speaking of lipstick, those of you who have friended me on Facebook might have a clue what’s coming next, but… March finally got to me on the red lipstick. All through Paris, I kept trying red lipsticks on, even bought three – that Giorgi Armani Lip wax thing and a couple of pretty YSLs –  which I promptly lost somehow.  But the perfect one?  Now, I know I’m going to be laughed at here, but I just don’t care.  I tried it on in Serge Lutens, and it’s the perfect shade for me.  Here’s a link to someone (not me!) wearing it.  I put it on, wore it around for about six hours, and still had prettily tinted red lips with no caking or smearing or otherwise goofy crap going on around my mouth.  Now, you must understand, lipstick lasts on me for about 3 minutes.  Red lipstick seems to last longer because it tints my lips a little better.  But Serge Lutens No. 1 Mise a Mort is perfect and horribly overpriced, and I didn’t buy it… um, then.  I promptly ordered it from Barneys the day after I got back home.  It should be here later today. If I get it and have time, I’ll post a picture here or on Facebook with me in it.

Look ahead to some English bulldog puppy pics on Thursday. Yes, I got him, his name is Vinnie, and he is perfect and wonderful and bounces around and has charmed everyone.